23536
Bluelight Crew
http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...g-limit-should-be-lowered-to-dot-05-ntsb-says
States should lower the definition of drunken driving to a blood-alcohol reading of no more than .05 percent, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended today, saying the U.S. is too tolerant of impairment behind the wheel.
The safety board at a hearing in Washington said the U.S. is behind other countries, including most of Europe, in having a threshold for drunken driving of .08 in all 50 U.S. states.
The risk of a crash at a .05 reading is half what it is at .08, the board said.
“It’s frustrating that with the education and advocacy, with laws and enforcement and with the many processes set up to deal with the problem of drinking and driving, that we are still seeing so many lives lost,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said at the hearing.
About one-third of U.S. traffic deaths are related to alcohol, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.
The difference between .08 and .05 is one to two mixed drinks, glasses of wine or 12-ounce beers over three hours, depending on gender and body size. A 180-pound man could consume four drinks in three hours before reaching .05, and a 140-pound woman could have three drinks over the same time period, according to charts prepared by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Health Education and Wellness.
cont. http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...g-limit-should-be-lowered-to-dot-05-ntsb-says
States should lower the definition of drunken driving to a blood-alcohol reading of no more than .05 percent, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended today, saying the U.S. is too tolerant of impairment behind the wheel.
The safety board at a hearing in Washington said the U.S. is behind other countries, including most of Europe, in having a threshold for drunken driving of .08 in all 50 U.S. states.
The risk of a crash at a .05 reading is half what it is at .08, the board said.
“It’s frustrating that with the education and advocacy, with laws and enforcement and with the many processes set up to deal with the problem of drinking and driving, that we are still seeing so many lives lost,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said at the hearing.
About one-third of U.S. traffic deaths are related to alcohol, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.
The difference between .08 and .05 is one to two mixed drinks, glasses of wine or 12-ounce beers over three hours, depending on gender and body size. A 180-pound man could consume four drinks in three hours before reaching .05, and a 140-pound woman could have three drinks over the same time period, according to charts prepared by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Health Education and Wellness.
cont. http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...g-limit-should-be-lowered-to-dot-05-ntsb-says
